Developer Lorenzo Doumani received Clark County approvals for Majestic Las Vegas, a rendering of which is seen here. The $850 million nongaming hotel project would be built at 305 Convention Center Drive. (Courtesy Lorenzo Doumani)

Developer Lorenzo Doumani received Clark County approvals for Majestic Las Vegas, a rendering of which is seen here. The $850 million nongaming hotel project would be built at 305 Convention Center Drive. (Courtesy Lorenzo Doumani)

Developer Lorenzo Doumani received Clark County approvals for Majestic Las Vegas, a rendering of which is seen here. The $850 million nongaming hotel project would be built at 305 Convention Center Drive. (Courtesy Lorenzo Doumani)

Developer Lorenzo Doumani received Clark County approvals for Majestic Las Vegas, a rendering of which is seen here. The $850 million nongaming hotel project would be built at 305 Convention Center Drive. (Courtesy Lorenzo Doumani)

Developer Lorenzo Doumani received Clark County approvals for Majestic Las Vegas, a rendering of which is seen here. The $850 million nongaming hotel project would be built at 305 Convention Center Drive. (Courtesy Lorenzo Doumani)

Developer Lorenzo Doumani received Clark County approvals for Majestic Las Vegas, a rendering of which is seen here. The $850 million nongaming hotel project would be built at 305 Convention Center Drive. (Courtesy Lorenzo Doumani)

Developer Lorenzo Doumani received Clark County approvals for Majestic Las Vegas, a rendering of which is seen here. The $850 million nongaming hotel project would be built at 305 Convention Center Drive. (Courtesy Lorenzo Doumani)

Developer Lorenzo Doumani received Clark County approvals for Majestic Las Vegas, a rendering of which is seen here. The $850 million nongaming hotel project would be built at 305 Convention Center Drive. (Courtesy Lorenzo Doumani)

Developer Lorenzo Doumani received Clark County approvals for Majestic Las Vegas, a rendering of which is seen here. The $850 million nongaming hotel project would be built at 305 Convention Center Drive. (Courtesy Lorenzo Doumani)

Developer Lorenzo Doumani received Clark County approvals for Majestic Las Vegas, a rendering of which is seen here. The $850 million nongaming hotel project would be built at 305 Convention Center Drive. (Courtesy Lorenzo Doumani)

Developer Lorenzo Doumani received Clark County approvals for Majestic Las Vegas, a rendering of which is seen here. The $850 million nongaming hotel project would be built at 305 Convention Center Drive. (Courtesy Lorenzo Doumani)

More than four years after he imploded the Clarion, developer Lorenzo Doumani has received approvals to build a luxury hotel in its place near the north Strip.

Clark County commissioners gave the green light Wednesday to Doumani’s plans for a 45-story, 720-room nongaming hotel at 305 Convention Center Drive.

The 6-acre project would also feature restaurants, 10 floors of convention and meeting space, and a so-called wellness medical spa that would offer “executive physicals” where patrons could get nutritional and exercise regimens.

The project, Majestic Las Vegas, is slated to cost $850 million, Doumani told the Review-Journal. He said he expects to break ground in April or May of 2020 and finish in the first quarter of 2023.

Doumani’s proposal comes amid long-standing hopes that the sluggish north Strip is poised for better days, as new megaresorts are in the works on that stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard and the nearby Las Vegas Convention Center is expanding.

He would also bring a new, high-end hotel to a site that, like countless others around the valley, boasts a volatile history – in this case, one marked by multiple name changes, bankruptcy and foreclosure proceedings, fizzled development ideas, and even an implosion that didn’t go as planned.

Doumani, owner of Majestic Resorts, told commissioners Wednesday that he wants to build a five-star hotel, something “intimate” and “classy” that will appeal to visitors who come to Las Vegas for conventions, or other reasons than gambling.

He also indicated the wellness spa would have a “beauty component” but not offer cosmetic procedures.

His project plans have been in the works for some time. Doumani, who bought the 12-story Clarion hotel in 2014 and imploded it in early 2015, told the Review-Journal that it took a year to secure Federal Aviation Administration approval for the new hotel’s proposed height. County documents say the tower would be up to 620 feet tall.

Doumani said he needed FAA approval before he went in front of the county commission.

The Clarion building had some 200 rooms, tiny compared to the megaresorts on the Strip, but it had a far-from-boring history.

It opened in 1970, and over the years its names included the Royal Inn, the Paddlewheel, the Debbie Reynolds and the Greek Isles. After going bankrupt under the late actress Debbie Reynolds, it was purchased at auction in 1998 by the World Wrestling Federation.

The WWF laid out plans to demolish the hotel and build a 35-story wrestling-themed casino, but it ended up selling the property in 2000.

In 2005, a developer said his group would buy the hotel and replace it with a luxury condo complex and 1,000-room hotel. But the landlord said their dealings had ended weeks earlier and that a document – apparently a sales contract – the supposed buyer filed with the county was “part of a pattern of misrepresentations.”

The property was sold in 2007 to a developer who filed plans for a 1.4 million-square-foot hotel project. But lenders filed court papers in 2009 to push the owner into bankruptcy, and the property was lost to foreclosure months later.

Eventually, Doumani imploded the hotel – but part of an elevator shaft survived the blasts and had to be pulled down with steel cables.

Operators of the Pinball Hall of Fame have been approved to build a new, larger arcade near the south edge of the Strip on Las Vegas Boulevard near Russel Road. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

National Hardware Show underway Las Vegas

The National Hardware Show kicked off Tuesday at the Las Vegas Convention Center (Mat Luschek / Review-Journal)

Caesars for sale?

Caesars Entertainment Corp. has been swept up in takeover speculation since the company’s share price tumbled last year amid disappointing earnings and concerns over a recession. Amid the decline, hedge funds scooped up shares. Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn began buying shares of Caesars as early as January. Icahn acquired nearly 18 percent by mid-March. In February Icahn called on the Caesars board to study a sale as a way to boost shareholder value.

Las Vegas home prices

Las Vegas home prices grew fastest among major markets in February for the ninth straight month. But amid affordability concerns, the growth rate has slowed down. Southern Nevada prices in February were up 9.7% from a year earlier, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index. The last time Las Vegas' price growth fell below 10% was in September 2017, S&P Dow Jones Indices reported.

Free Parking Coming To Wynn

Free parking will come to the Wynn and Encore resorts on May 1, 2019. (Mat Luschek / Review-Journal)

Founding Venetian employees talk about 20 years at the Strip resort

The Venetian, which opened May 3, 1999, is celebrating 20 years on the Las Vegas Strip. Seven original employees talk about opening the luxury resort and working there for two decades. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Circa aiming for December 2020 opening

The 1.25-million-square-foot property will have 44-stories and 777-rooms. It will also have a separate nine-story, 1,201-space parking garage.

Boxabl official explains the building concept

Boxabl business development manager Galiano Tiramani shows off a room built by his company. (Blake Apgar/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

TI/Mirage Tram reopens

The tram that shuttles guests between TI and Mirage reopened this week after being closed for much of 2018.

Las Vegas Convention Center expansion taking shape

Renderings and actual footage show how the Las Vegas Convention Center is evolving.

Japan’s NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories booth featured a 1mm thick 8K TV system used in conjunction with a 22.2 channel digital sound system at the National Association of Broadcasters Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Business reporter Rick Velotta gives an update on the adjudicatory hearing on the suitability of Wynn Resorts to retain its gaming license in Massachusetts.

Henderson app developer part of Startup in Residence

Henderson based developers of the app On Point Barricade are taking part in Startup in Residence, a North America program dedicated to pairing tech companies with governments. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Sam's Town employees and customers talk of their love for the iconic casino

Longtime Sam's Town employees and customers love each other and love their casino. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Las Vegas apartments rents

Las Vegas’ apartment market has accelerated in recent years. Developers are packing the suburbs with projects, landlords are on a buying spree, and tenants have filled buildings.

William Boyd talks about the birth of Sam's Town

On the eve of the 40th anniversary of Sam's Town, William Boyd, executive chairman of Boyd Gaming and son of hotel namesake Sam Boyd, talks about how the casino became one of the first local properties in Las Vegas. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

There are no data showing a relationship between Strip resort and parking fees and the number of out-of-state visitors to Las Vegas. But there are data showing a relationship between Strip parking fees and the number of local visitors to the the Strip. ‘’As a local, I find myself picking hotels I visit for dinner or entertainment, based on whether they charge for parking or not,”’ said David Perisset, the owner of Exotics Racing. ‘’It is not a matter of money, more of principle.’’
A 2018 survey by the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance found 36.9 percent of Clark County residents reported avoiding parking at Strip casinos that charge for parking. 29.1 percent reported avoiding using any services from a Strip casino that charges for parking.

MGM's sports betting deals

MGM Resorts International signed a sports betting sponsorship agreement with the NBA in July It was the first professional sports league to have official ties with a legal sports betting house. The deal came just two months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a law prohibiting sports betting in most states. In October, MGM became the first gaming company to sign a sports betting partnership with the NHL. In November, MGM became the first gaming company to sign a sports betting partnership with the MLB. Financial terms of Tuesday’s deal and earlier partnerships have not been announced.

Faraday puts Las Vegas land on the market

Nearly two years after Faraday Future bailed on its North Las Vegas auto factory, the company has put its land up for sale. (Michael Quine/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority announced the recommendation for an underground people mover for the convention center. The system would have the potential to expand and connect Downtown and the resort corridor all the way to McCarran. (Michael Quine/ Las Vegas Review-Journal)

State lawmakers approved a bill in 2015 — a decade after Las Vegas’ wild building spree — that raised barriers to pursuing lawsuits alleging shoddyconstruction. A measure now working its way through the Democratic-controlled Legislature would wipe out or change provisions of that law.

Advancing technology in slot machines is paving the way for a better, more immersive experience for players — one that draws a wider variety of demographics, and keeps them in their seat at the slots longer, industry insiders say.

The state Assembly approved a bill last month that would make it easier for homeowners to pursue construction defect claims — and potential lawsuits — against builders, contractors and others who worked on their houses.